A Promise Kept
by AlexanderCastle
Summary: One-shot sequel to 'Always Come Back' set in Mark of Athena and based on a prompt by katraj0908. Includes Piper and Annabeth bonding, deceptively calm Jason, Annabeth thinking about things, and tons of Percabeth fluff!


**I apologize for my lack of updates the last few months. This is something special that I've wanted to write for a while, originally requested by katraj0908 back in May last year and I've been trying to figure out how best to write it since then. I really hope that you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Disclaimer - I don't own Percy Jackson & The Olympians, nor do I own Heroes of Olympus, Tales of Apollo, or any of Rick Riordan's other works related to the Percy Jackson universe. What I do own is this story.**

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"We're approaching the Roman camp".

Annabeth nods in response to the blonde-haired boy's statement, staring over the side of the Argo II in her anticipation. "Please be here. Please…"

"You okay?"

Annabeth sighs, looking up momentarily, and her grey eyes meet the daughter of Aphrodite's kaleidoscope ones. Piper has paused briefly in her pacing and speech-rehearsing to sit down next to the blonde-haired daughter of Athena, and there's clear concern visible in the other girl's eyes. "What if Jason's wrong, and Percy isn't there? Or worse; what if he is, and he doesn't remember me? I almost lost him once already, Piper, I can't go through that again" Annabeth answers quietly, her eyes gleaming worriedly.

Piper puts a hand on her arm, resting it there for a few seconds, long enough for the daughter of Athena to draw comfort from the contact, before removing it. "He will be there. And he will remember you" she replies, her voice just as quiet as the worried blonde's.

"You don't know that"

Piper shrugs. "No, but Jason says that he will be. And I trust Jason".

Annabeth's eyes shift to look at the blonde in question, who is still staring silently over the edge of the boat at the Roman camp below. She won't ever admit it to Piper, but she still doesn't quite trust the son of Jupiter (chiefly because of how perfect he is, always following the rules and doing the honourable thing), but she trusts Piper, and that's enough for the time being. "Then so do I".

Piper nods in satisfaction, giving her shoulder one last gentle squeeze in reassurance before standing and returning to her pacing and speech-rehearsing. At the front of the boat, Jason adjusts his purple cloak with one hand, the other gripping the hilt of his golden sword so tightly that his knuckles have turned white. _Piper and Jason are right. Percy will be down there. And he will remember me. He promised he would always come back, after all. And my boyfriend may be a Seaweed Brain, but he always keeps his promises_ Annabeth thinks.

The sound of horns being blown in the valley below causes her to look up and over at Jason who has turned to look back at her. Grey eyes meet blue, and the son of Jupiter nods. When he speaks, his voice is impressively calm. "They've seen us".

 **~Roughly thirty minutes later~**

She hates to admit it, even to herself, but she'll have to remember to thank Jason later. _Despite my distrust of the Roman, he really was right about Percy being at Camp Jupiter._ Percy is standing across from her, next to a black-haired girl that Annabeth can immediately recognize from Jason's stories as Reyna.

Percy smiles at her, and the daughter of Athena feels her heart skip a beat. It's that same sarcastic, troublemaker smile that annoyed her at first but she soon warmed to. His sea-green eyes are as gorgeous as she remembers them being, and his raven-black hair is swept to one side as if he'd just come from a walk on the beach. She also can't help noticing that he's somehow taller, leaner, tanner and more muscular – even better-looking than six months ago, she notes.

She's too stunned to move. She's secretly had a crush on Percy since they were 12 years old, and fell for him hard a couple of years before, during their quest in the Labyrinth. They'd been a happy couple for just under one and a half years when he disappeared, and she can't help but note that her feelings for him have grown more and more intense since then.

Annabeth forces herself to look away from her boyfriend and back to Reyna as the black-haired girl straightens herself and steps forward (albeit reluctantly). "Jason Grace, my former colleague…" the praetor begins, speaking the word colleague like it's something dangerous.

She pauses for a couple of seconds before continuing. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends…"

Annabeth doesn't mean to, but she surges forward at that exact moment in Reyna's speech, Percy rushing towards her as well. She's dimly aware of the crowd tensing around them, some of the Roman demigods instinctively reaching for swords that aren't there. And then Percy's arms are around her waist, their lips are pressed together, and nothing else in the world matters. Annabeth can taste the salt on his lips and the smell of ocean air around his body, and she involuntarily makes a soft sighing sound in the back of her throat that she sincerely hopes her boyfriend can't hear. _Seaweed Brain._

Percy pulls away, studying her face. "Gods, I never thought…"

As he speaks, Annabeth grabs his wrist and flips him over her shoulder. He slams into the stone pavement, and she's dimly aware of several Romans crying out in shock and moving towards her, only stopped by Reyna's commands. She kneels, her knee on Percy's chest and her forearm across his throat, uncaring of what the Romans think. White-hot anger burns in her chest, the worry and bitterness she's been carrying around since he'd gone missing now making itself apparent.

"If you ever leave me again, Seaweed Brain, I swear by all the gods…"

Her boyfriend laughs, and suddenly all the anger leaves her. "Consider me warned, Wise Girl. I missed you too. And… I'm sorry I broke my promise".

She rises and helps her boyfriend to his feet, before throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. "You didn't break it, Seaweed Brain. It may have taken much longer than either of us would have liked, and it may not have happened in quite the same way, but you kept your promise. You came back to me, just like you said you would. You came back" she whispers, her breath warm against the shell of his ear.

His lips find hers again, and this time she can feel his grin against her lips and hear his equally soft reply. "So I did".

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 **Songs for this update were**

 **Billy Joel - Piano Man  
** **Survivor - Eye of the Tiger**

 **Please read and Review, and I promise I won't wait as long before getting my next update out this time!**

 **Oh, and in case anyone is curious... The scene on the boat is 398 words long, the actual reunion scene is 604 words long.**


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